Fairytale without a name
by Kassandra21
Summary: The young prince of a troubled land. A schoolteacher with a will strong enough to defy hardships and fight for life. Will she help him find the courage to fight for his people and become the leader he is destined to be? A tale about bravery, justice, altruism, love and the virtues of leadership.
1. Royalty in rags

**A/N: Ok, this is my second ****Téa****/Atem story. This is more of a drama story with romance as a key ingredient. I have to say that this story was inspired by my favorite children's book, called "A fairytale with no name", written by one of the best Greek writers, Penelope Delta. It was the first fictional story that ever made me cry and built my character. I believe it is an idea worth reproducing as it taught me the values of bravery, altruism and justice which I try to live my life by. It has been at least 8 years since I read it, but I still remember it's meaning and the deep impact it had on my personality. Therefore, I decided to write my version of the story, with Atem and ****Téa****replacing the main characters , as their personalities fit exactly the pattern. Also they are surrounded by the other characters of YuGiOh, accordingly to their characteristics in the anime. That means that in spite of the fact that I have changed their names, most of the heroes are written in character (except for Serenity…). I hope you enjoy my story as much as I do. Even if you don't, please review, because the only way for a writer to improve is through constructive criticism. Thank you very much ^_^**

**P.S. I did not want to make this a very long intro so go to my profile for the explanation on the names and an brief description of the characters.**

Chapter one: Royalty in rags

The young prince was sitting by the window looking at the sun setting to the far west of his land. The plains and valleys he remembered admiring as a child, seemed to have turned into an endless desert of weeds and rocks. Today was his coming of age, but no one seemed to remember.

His mother was sitting in front of the mirror combing her hair with a half-broken comb and admiring her periwinkle dress, with one sleeve half ripped, and most of the embroidery torn off. His sisters, were fighting over something meaningless like who's got the longest hair. Their screams echoed throughout the empty stone walls of their once magnificent palace.

His father was sitting on his throne, wearing his golden crown, which was looking abnormal as it was the only shinny and not worn out object in the room, not to say the whole tower, or the whole country… The prince felt a pinch in his stomach. The situation caused him deep sadness, although it had been like this for at least the past ten years.

Suddenly, he felt someone touching his shoulder. "Happy birthday Okami." It was his younger brother, Orion, the only really familiar face in that alien party. "Here, I wanted to give you this." He took a piece of cloth out of his pocket and gave it to Okami. Inside it there was a small pyramid shaped pendant, with an eye etched on it, hanging by a small chain. "I wish I could have gotten you something better, but unfortunately this is all I can do…" he blushed a little and his violet eyes faced the ground full of sorrow.

"I found it at the ruined playground near the abandoned Paedagogeum. I cleaned it the best I could, but I can clean it again if it's still dirty…" young Orion said. Then he lifted his gaze off the ground only to see his brother's watery eyes. "I will treasure this as my life little brother" the prince answered and leapt toward his baby brother giving him a hug.

Right at that moment, a huge clay vase came flying towards them and hit the wall, shuttering in little pieces, inches from Okami's spiky hair. "Ughhh…" he gasped. "What the.." he turned around to see his sisters fighting once again for the stupidest of reasons.

"Who's short you big-headed baboon?" Melina screamed trying to pull her sister's hair. Yuna, who had put her arms between Melina and her own head, answered with no hesitation "You are! Short and ugly! That's why no one has asked you for marriage yet!" saying that last insult she stuck her tongue out and freed herself from Melina's grip. Melina's face turned bloody red at the comment "Why you little…" she started running after her sister.

Melina was already of age, four years now, but no one had approached the king to ask her for marriage. It was not so much because of her appearance though. She was quite beautiful, even in the worn out dresses she had left. She had long, blonde curls, big, round, amethyst eyes and a very attractive female figure. However, the neighbor kingdoms had stopped visiting this land long ago, and the royal family was almost confined within the walls of the palace since forever. Their only outings were when they promenaded to the once green gardens of the capital city of Jarra, Fyria, which seemed almost abandoned these days. And that hadn't happened for about five years now.

Only the young prince, Okami, liked to sneak out of the palace to take long wandering walks in the ancient forest, the only place that was left intact in his kingdom. There, he could find his peace and think about all the things he would have wanted to do if he was not royalty. "I would travel the world and learn about new things. I would study and conquer all the knowledge in the world... If only I was free". His wish to become educated was engraved in his mind ever since he had found that huge dusty picture book in his grandfather's old study. However, it was considered useless for royalty to be educated, since their only responsibility was to sit pretty and live off the country's wealth.

Yes, that was what his kingdom had come to. In the times of Okami's grandfather, Shiro the 1st, also referred to as Shiro the Wise, the kingdom of Jarra was an example of prosperity. The lands were cultivated, the people enjoyed a high quality of life, the children were educated, the men were working and the surrounding kingdoms respected and loved the king. However, when Okami's father, Shiro the 2nd, was handed the crown, just before his father's death, and married Lena, a beautiful but clueless princess, sunk in vanity, the land of Jarra started decaying little by little. The king and queen passed their time spending the riches gathered in many years of labor, during Shiro the 1st's ruling, ignoring all their responsibilities and leaving the fate of their people to ruthless vultures. Vultures like Amoran, the high chancellor of this country. The man that was responsible for everything and anything in Jarra. The right hand of the king.

The prince despised that man, in spite of the fact that he still had no idea that his actions would be the catalyst to Jarra's demise. For as brave and smart as the prince was, he had lived all his life within the walls of the palace and had no idea that the foundations of his kingdom were crunched away by greedy traitors, and it's fall was only a matter of time…

**A/N: This chapter was just an introduction to the storyline, and Atem's situation. In the next chapter I will describe Téa's situation, so stay put. And u know what to do: review, review, review. :P**


	2. Flowers in the ruins

**A/N: So, this is the second chapter that will conclude the prologue of the story. Thank you very much for your reviews, I was really happy to receive them . Well, don't be impatient because this is a drama story and dramas build up… Anyway, more action is coming soom. For now, enjoy this chapter and you know what to do.*wink***

Chapter 2 Flowers in the ruins

"This is an N, not an M, Cloud." the young woman said softly to the boy. The boy blushed a little bit and rewrote the word. "That's better" she said patting him on the back. "Ok, Cloud, that's all for today I guess. You can go home" she added with a sweet smile on her face. The boy seemed reluctant.

"What's wrong Cloud, is everything ok?" she was concerned about him. She went a little closer to the half broken desk, where the boy was sitting and sat next to him on her knees. Her dress got all dirty, but she didn't mind as it was worn-out already. The boy turned and faced her sapphire blue eyes with his sad ones, ready to cry. "I… I don't want to go there Teacher… I want to stay here, with you…"

The woman went a little closer to the boy and hugged him. "Honey, you know that is not possible." She said in a sweet, motherly way. "But I can't go back there", the boy cried, "everything is so depressing. My brother is almost never home, and when he is, he is either sleeping drunk or sitting on his workshop just looking at his tools. He barely even speaks to me" he said sadly.

"Don't be discouraged Cloud, things will get better" she said in a most comforting voice "and you are a really brave boy. You have to be strong for your brother too. So that he hangs on until better days find us…" she said while stroking his hair. He had long black hair and huge puppy eyes. He was the sweetest boy. And he was the last student she had left…

She sure had a knack for big words like "courage" and "better days", but she had a hard time convincing herself lately. She took a look around the room. The only class in the whole Paedagogeum that was still standing. The rest of it had fallen to ruins. Even this room had its problems though. The paint had long faded off the walls and the floor had a huge hole in front of the teacher's desk. Too often she had had to mend her shoes after tripping to that hole. No matter how many times she had tried to fix it she had miserably failed.

A small bulb was hanging from a wire on the ceiling, ready to be detached. /_I'll have to see to that later_/, she thought, as she was not only the teacher, but also the janitor, the handyman and the electrician in this building. Not to mention the gardener.

In other times she would have ask Drako to fix it, but now he spent more time in the tavern than in the real world, sadly enough for the best craftsman in the whole kingdom. /_Once_…/ she thought. She was now the only one left in what used to be a glorious institution of knowledge. The managers and the teachers were gone for about a year now and her students had gradually stopped coming to school. Some of them left the country with their parents to seek a better life. Those were the lucky ones. Others turned to begging or even worse, stealing in order to survive.

The woman left a silent sigh and tried to forget about how grim the situation was. "So", she turned to the boy, whom she had apparently convinced since he had risen from his chair and was packing his book in his ragged satchel. "How about you come a little early tomorrow and help with the garden?" she said almost playfully. "The weeds are getting dangerous for the lettuces and I could really use your help."

The boy's eyes widened and a huge smile appeared on his face. "Sure thing Teacher!" he said joyfully. She knew of course that would make him happy. He was such a sweet and strong-willed boy. The truth was the garden was pretty much ok and the lettuces safe, but Cloud would be much better doing something productive than sulking alone at his house.

As soon as the boy was gone, the teacher started thinking about how she was going to get up on the ceiling to fix the light. Cloud might have been the only student left, but this was still a school, and she would never stop working as long as even one child was willing to be educated.

Education had decayed along with civilization in her country. Soon after Shiro the 2nd had taken over the government of the kingdom, things seemed to be going worse in a geometrical order. The crops reduced within only three years, the taxes were heavier and heavier and jobs became scarce. The people of this country had gone through many phases: poverty, starvation, disappointment and finally beggary and crime. She had witnessed all of those phases during her childhood. She had seen friends and relatives flee the country never to return, or turning against one another. A chaos had engulfed the kingdom in a way that seemed almost deliberate… And the royalty, was just oblivious...

"Thera, could you please bring me some carrots for the soup?" a middle-aged woman's voice sounded from the house next door. "And come on already, you've worked enough for today".

"I'm coming mother." she answered. "It's not like I've really worked…" She slowly walked toward the garden, outside the classroom and kneeled to the ground to unroot some carrots. "Maybe a couple of potatoes too" she was talking to herself, or so she thought. She put the vegetables in a basket and went to the small spring by the school to drink some water and wash her hands.

The moment she turned around she heard a strange noise. She run back to the garden only to see that someone had stolen her basket. Then she noticed a small person running to the woods. "Hey! Hey you!" she shouted and at the same time started running after the thief "Come back!". Thera was really a quick runner. She was athletic in general. Hard life in the country had made her body strong enough to be able to catch up to a running child.

"Hey! Gotcha!" she said short of breath when she finally got to the little criminal. "You sure are quick!" she said smiling. The child had fallen to the ground and was covered in leaves. "Hey are you alright?" she asked. Then the child, with a swift move, threw her on the ground.

"Leave me alone lady!" _she_ shouted. The thief was a young girl, about 14 years old and she had long blonde hair. She picked up as many vegetable as she could and started running again but Thera was too shocked to follow her. "Kanae…" she mumbled… She knew that girl. It was little Kanae, one of the brightest children she had ever met. She used to live with her family in the capital when Thera and her mother still lived in Fyria. She hadn't seen Kanae for at least 2 years.

Thera got on her feet slowly and after she dusted off her dress, she started slowly walking toward her house. Her eyes were watery, and her heart was heavy as a brick. "Is everything alright sweetheart?" her mother asked, worried about her dreadful appearance. "Are you hurt or something", but she knew that the look on Thera's face could not have come from physical pain.

"What has this world come to mother? When the future of this kingdom has to steal and beg in order to survive?" Thera burst into tears. Her mother ran to her and gave her a warm hug. "This is the fate of this land my dear" she tried to sound comforting. "We can only try to do our best, honestly and with patience. Better days will come".

"No!" Thera shouted as she pulled away from her mother's arms. "How can I keep on living in this world, waiting?" she said full of determination. "I'm done waiting for better days to come! Someone has to do something! I have to do something!". That incident had lit a fire inside her, that would give her the courage to fight for her goal to the end. And she would not be alone… But she didn't know that yet…

…..

**A/N: So, how was that? Of course Thera is Tea and she seems to be far away from where Okami (Atem) is right now. But destiny will bring them together sooner than you expect. So stay put. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. ^_^**


	3. The Encounter

**A/N. Ok here I am again with my fairytale. This chapter is a bit longer, but it's the chapter we've all been waiting for :P. Enjoy and review my friends…**

Chapter 3 The Encounter

The king sat on his broken throne wearing his freshly polished crown. "Where is Amoran?" he shouted. "I summoned him about half an hour ago".

"He's coming my lord" the blonde maid answered. Just at that moment the high chancellor, entered the room. He was a tall, strong man, about 45 years old with long grey hair and a beard.

"I'm here my lord!" he said giving a deep bow. "At your services.."

"Where have you been Amoran?" the king said, trying to sound strict. "I have been searching for you since yesterday afternoon".

"I was working for you my great king. As always.." the man said in a flattering tone of voice. "I have sent our royal envoys to your uncle the king of Minoa and your cousin the ruler of Atra as you commanded" he continued.

"Excellent! I knew I could always count on you my good friend!" the king shouted triumphantly. "Their loan is sure to take some of the burden off our shoulders for a while…"

"Great…More begging…" Okami was sitting by the window, on the other side of the room, as he always did.

"Did you say something my boy?" the king had heard him mumble, but he couldn't exactly hear what he had said.

"Yes I did father!" he said suddenly getting up. "For how long are we going to beg for our relatives scraps? Is this what this kingdom has come to?" he said in a passionate tone of voice.

"Silence! How dare you speak like that?" the king got angry at his son.

"But father..." Okami was discouraged. He took a deep breath. "Father, how can we expect from others to care for our kingdom while we sit around and do nothing?" he cried in desperate voice.

"What are we to do, if crops have been going badly Okami? It is not our fault. And stop pestering yourself with such nonsense. We were chosen by God to rule this kingdom and we will do it any means possible…" the king said. Then he turned his gaze from his son. "Now, what's for lunch maid?" he said plainly.

Okami decided not to push it any further. It was just like his father to avoid a conversation like this. When he could simply not win the argument, or he was too bored to even try to, he just changed the subject.

Amoran, however decided to humor the boy with an explanation. "My king" he said in a slimily soft voice, "Forgive the boy. He sure has no knowledge of how things work in the kingdom. My dear prince," he continued turning to Okami now " the last few winters have been devastating for our crops and farming. The land has been drained and the people have been fleeing the country. There's really not much we can do, but wait for things to get better. Until then, we need all the help we can get."

Those last words struck Okami like lightning. He hated thinking that he needed the pity and charity of others. Pride had become a major feature of his character the past few years. That and the need for freedom. He felt trapped in that palace. Maybe it was because he had been observing the wolves and the birds all these years during his forest walks. They were proud and free. He found himself wishing he was like them far too many times. His pondering was abruptly stopped by his sisters' screams once again.

"Give me back my pin you fat ugly troll!" Melina was chasing Yuna once again. "You're the troll!" she answered somewhat offended by the comment. Yuna was insecure about being shorter than everyone in the family, so every comment sounded like an offence for short people to her.

"No matter how many pins and gems you put on, you're ugly!" the younger sister yelled again.

Okami looked at them depressed and turned his gaze to the horizon outside the window once again.

As Melina was chasing after Yuna, she rushed to the front door of the room, failing to notice the two young men that had just entered. She bumped on one of them and lost her balance. Before she hit the ground, the blonde young man swooshed over and caught her with his arms.

"I gotcha princess" he said.

"Jace…" she said with a slight blush appearing on her cheek. But suddenly her expression changed.

"Watch where you're going you idiot! You almost killed me!" she screamed turning away and leaving his arms. The man was surprised..

"Whaaa?" he was ready to talk back at her but the second soldier stopped him.

"Just let it go Jace…." He whispered, "she's the Princess".

"She's a spoiled hen, that's what she is…" Jace whispered back frowning his face.

"Did you say something blondie?" she turned around giving him a poisonous look. Jace was ready to pick a fight.

"He just asked me about my trip your highness.." Tora popped in front of Jace to keep him from doing anything irrational. The soldier was holding a medium sized box.

The king noticed the two men entering the room a little bit later. "Tora, Jace, my faithful flagmen are back!" he seemed overexcited. "What news bring you of my favorite cousin Perseus, Jace?" he noticed that the young man had nothing in his hands.

"The blonde man stepped forward. He gave the king a bow. "My lord… The king, your cousin…" he was reluctand.

"He said…" he took a deep breath. "He sends his greetings and says that he will consider your request and send you an envoy of his own within the next month!" he almost shouted everything in one breath.

"Great.." The king seemed disappointed, but then he noticed the box in Tora's hands.

"Well, well, what have we got here?" he said walking toward the flagman. "Seems like my uncle Kuro was a bit more generous huh?" he said with a smirk.

"Come on Tora, let's open it and see what's inside".

Everyone was silent at that moment. /_That's weird…/_ Okami thought. Even Yuna and Melina had shut up. He decided to go closer. Tora put the box on the table and announced:

"King Kuro, sends you this gift as a token of his appreciation and hopes that you will understand its meaning".

The king was thrilled. "I'm sure it is something awesome… Maybe a new crown…This one has sure gotten a little old." he looked at his precious crown with contempt and took it off in order to prepare his head for the new one. "It sure looks like a crown box…"

Okami almost fell sorry for his father. All he could care about was shinny things… Like his mother… No matter how much he loved them both, he couldn't help but despise their shallowness and vanity.

Tora opened the box slowly and unwrapped a part of the inside… He went pale…

"What is it?" the king said in anxiety. "Is it beyond your imagination?" he asked the young soldier who was almost white… "My… lord…" he stuttered.

The king couldn't wait any longer. He jumped to the box and took the item that was inside. Tora immediately put himself in front of Yuna who had come closer out of curiosity to see what was in the box.

The king almost fell on his back. He dropped the item on the table. Okami went even closer and when he saw it his eyes widened and his heart stopped…

On the table, lay a donkey's cut head with a tin crown on it… Okami felt all the blood in his body boil. That was an insult he would have never expected. He felt like crying. But what made him even more uncomfortable, was the fact that he couldn't shake the thought that it was a well-deserved one..

"There's your new crown father!" he shouted out of his lungs. He couldn't contain his anger any more. He rushed out of the room and started running without waiting to hear or see anything more. That was it! He was getting out of that forsaken country. Anywhere would be better than this.

On his way out he stumbled on Orion. He nearly passed him by. "Oka…Okami!" Orion shouted. The prince stopped for a moment. "What's wrong brother? Where are you going like this?" he cried.

"I'm leaving forever!" the prince screamed in agony "I can't live here anymore! This place is over for me!"

"Then I'm coming with you!" the boy shouted before Okami finished his sentence. "I could not live here without you" he had tears in his eyes.

Okami calmed down a little when he saw his little brother cry. He looked to the ground "I'm sorry Orion… But I have given up on this family, on this kingdom…" he said with a sorrowful voice.

"I have to keep from losing my faith to the whole world… I have to go out there and convince myself that everything is not this rotten.. That there are things worth living for…" he stopped for a brief moment.

"You are welcome to join me if you want… I won't try to stop you... But I still do not know where I am going" he finally said.

"As long as I am with you brother I know it will be ok" the boy stopped crying. The two brothers left the castle behind and started walking to the Ancient Forest. It was still noon.

…..

The had been walking in the Forest for what seemed like hours, but the sun had not set yet. Okami thought he knew that Forest pretty well, but the truth was he had barely crossed the entrance. It was a huge forest that extended throughout half the kingdom, almost defining its borders. Orion seemed really excited though.

"Wow look at this!" his eyes widened with every little thing. "Strawberries!" he shouted. "I didn't know they grew in the forest!" it had been quite some time since they had had such a delicacy in the palace.

Okami felt a lot calmer now. His little brother's excitement was really refreshing. "You know… You can gather some if you want. And I'm sure we'll find a stream to wash and eat them" he said with a smile. Orion's eyes shined like little stars. He run to the strawberry plants.

But Okami had started worrying about what they would do next. They couldn't stay in the forest forever… Just as he was thinking that, he heard splash noises. /_There's our stream.._/ he smiled. The sounds were coming from a distance, behind a big cluster of bushes. He stepped closer and pulled some branches so that he could see…

Behind the bushes was a small downhill leading to a river. And in the bank of the river, inside the water was a…._girl_.

The girl was wearing weird clothing. She was wearing pants that were lifted to her knees to protect her from getting wet and a very thin, almost underwear-like sleeveless shirt… Okami felt a strange heat on his face…

The girl turned around and he saw her face. She was too pretty for words. She had beautiful longish brown hair and huge opalescent blue eyes that shone in the light of the sunset. Her body was really slender and despite her apparent efforts not to get wet, she had little drops of water all over her skin…

Okami smiled at her sight… He was even more amused when he realized she was swinging a harpoon on the water. /_Is she… fishing_?/ he thought… That was by far the cutest thing he had ever witnessed…

"Hey brother…" Okami was so focused on the girl in the river and so subsequently surprised by his brother that he lost his balance and fell through the bushes. The girl noticed the strange sound and turned her puzzled eyes toward the bushes. When Okami realized she had seen him, he became even more unstable and started rolling downhill over the grass and fell right into the river. "Brother!" Orion shouted and tried to find a path down to help him, avoiding to have the same fate as him.

"Ughh…" Okami must have picked every plant on his way down. His spikey hair was full of green leaves and little purple flowers.

The girl looked at him with a half-scared, half-angry look. "What were you doing there? YOU _PERVERT_!"

Okami tried to get up as he had bumped his butt pretty hard on the river stones. "Umm…. No… No… I was just" he tried to get closer to her, somewhat tripping…

"Don't come any closer or I'll harpoon you through that thorny head of yours!" She screamed swaying her harpoon in what she tried to be a warning-threatening way but what came out as completely adorable in Okami's eyes.

"No wait..I didn't…" he tried to speak. He was pretty awkward though… What was he trying to explain exactly? And how could he… After all, he _had_ been stalking her through the bushes….

"I told you DO NOT COME ANY CLOSER" her eyes were like sharp knives… They stopped Okami at his tracks. In mere seconds, the girl was out of the water. She grabbed her shoes and a bucket that was near the river and disappeared into the other side of the bank..

"Wait… I just…" he couldn't finish his sentence as he felt faint…

"Okami!" he heard Orion's cry. "Are you ok? Oh dear". Orion had noticed a huge rush on the back of Okami's neck. "What is this? Are you hurt?"

Okami answered almost whispering "I don't know… I just feel dizzy…"

"We must find a place to rest. Find a doctor. Brother can you get up?" Orion tried to keep calm.

"I think so" Okami tried to get on his feet. Orion helped him by giving him his shoulder.

"You are always so careless Okami.." he scolded his brother.

Okami tried to smile but he felt a very sharp pain on the back of his neck and his chest. The two boys started walking to the direction where Orion had come from.

"There must be someone living around here" Orion said trying to keep his brother awake. "There is a road here and I am sure I spotted something that looked like a building on the way" he continued.

"Hang on brother. We'll find help". This was a completely new situation for him. He hadn't even been outside Fyria but today he had probably crossed half the Ancient Forest and was too far away from home… Plus it was already dark and Okami was hurt… That was really a bad day…

As he was trying to track down his previous course, Orion noticed a small light coming from not too far between the trees.

"Yes! We're saved brother." He said. "There's a house over there".

"Good…" Okami mumbled. He couldn't speak very well, as he felt his face turning numb.

They walked through some pine trees passing by what seemed to be the ruins of some old building. Next to it there was a small garden and on the other side there was a small cottage. That's where the light was coming from, the window of that house.

Orion started walking faster, dragging Okami along. When he reached the door he knocked it immediately without even thinking…

"We will intrude…" Okami was kind of delirious…

After a few seconds, a middle-aged woman opened the door.

"Hello…" her eyes widened when she saw the two spike-head boys in her doorstep.

"Please help us, my brother is hurt.." Orion uttered.

"Oh my…" The woman seemed terrified. "Thera! Quickly boil some water and go fetch some Amaranth! RUN!" she shouted.

"Come on boy, let's bring him inside…" she took Okami's shoulder that was not occupied by Orion and brought him in the house. Right next to a very small hallway there was a kitchen where a pot was already on the fire. At the one side of the room there was a small couch.

"Come on sit here dear…" the woman said softly. Right at that moment a back kitchen door opened and a girl holding a bunch of yellow flowers entered the room.

"Mother what is it? What…." She suddenly stopped talking.

Okami raised his head and saw the girl from the river, looking at him with her big blue eyes, puzzled and terrified at the same time, and a little….blushed.

"_Oh great_…" he mumbled before he lost his senses.

**A/N: How was that huh? Atem a pervert? Omg..XD. Let's see what happens in the next chapter…Until then, cheerio.^_^**


	4. Caring

**A/N: Ok, it took a while but I updated. This chapter is all about Atem and Tea ^_^. I will say no more, just enjoy. And you know what to do: Read and review **

Chapter 4 Caring

Okami felt the warmth of the morning sun coming from the kitchen window, on his cheek. It was a pleasant feeling. He opened his eyes. His last memory was the blue-eyed girl from the river, holding a bunch of weird dry-looking yellow flowers and then he must have passed out…/_It was probably a hallucination_/ he thought.

He looked around and he started remembering some things from the past night… He had rolled down in the river, then he had felt very weak, and Orion had brought him to that house… He was lying on a small couch in a kitchen. The place looked nothing like the palace. It was small, clean and warm…

He noticed he was alone. He lifted his head and felt a very sharp pain on the back of it… He also realized that there was something patched on his neck. His put his hand and clumsily touched it. "Ouch!" he squealed in pain. "What is this thing?"

He immediately wondered where Orion was. He tried to get up but he was losing his balance… He must have slept for more than ten hours, but he felt completely weak. When he finally managed to get up, he approached the small window where the sun was coming from. He moved the curtain with his hand and looked outside.

There was a fairly large yard, with a table and some chairs on well cared lawn, surrounded but a flower garden, consisting mainly of roses… And in the east end of the garden stood the _most beautiful_ of them all… The young blue-eyed girl he had encountered the day before… She was hanging washed clothes on a string of rope extending from one side of the yard to the other.

"So it was not a _dream_…" he said to himself. "Well, this is a sight for sore eyes…"

Okami was completely fascinated by this beauty. He had never seen a person that caused him so much excitement before. He stood there and observed her for a little while.. She was wearing a long, thin, light blue dress and a pair of worn-out slippers and she had her hair arranged in a rather sloppy ponytail. She couldn't have a more plain appearance, yet to him she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Her skin was glowing in the morning sun and she had the cutest expression on her face… She looked a little tired.

Okami felt the need to go and help her, despite the fact that his balance was still really bad . He opened the back door of the kitchen and got outside. He felt the cool grass on his feet, as he had forgotten to put on any shoes… It was quite a pleasant feeling.

He straightened his body position, which took a lot of effort, as he felt like he was carrying a huge rock on the back of his head. He slowly walked toward the girl…

For a reason he could not quite explain, he felt a strange rush on his blood, as if he was about to do something extraordinary, although he was just walking toward another person.

"Hey…" he said plainly after reaching her. He was standing pretty closely behind her.

The girl was startled. "Whaaaa!" she turned around with an expression of terror and surprise, at the same time dropping a shirt she had on her hand to the ground.

When she saw him she blushed and took a fake-angry expression "_You_! What… is it like your hobby to sneak up on people?" she said crossing her hands in front of her chest. She was really bossy.

Okami felt embarrassed and amused at the same time. "No… I just thought maybe I could help…" he said awkwardly… He noticed what she had dropped on the ground and went to reach for it. The girl looked at him surprised.

As he bent over, he felt the pain on the back of his neck becoming unbearable. "Ughhh!" he gasped and fell on the ground.

"UH!" she squealed when she realized he was in pain. She had almost forgotten that he was wounded to a lethal point. She stooped towards him and touched his shoulder.

"Hey, are you ok?" she sounded really concerned. Okami felt a warmth in his chest when she touched him. He tried to raise his head to see her face, but he couldn't.

"Don't move!" she ordered him. "I'll help you get inside" she said in a calmer voice. "You stupid pervert, you shouldn't have gotten out of bed" she said with her scolding voice again.

Okami couldn't believe how much she enjoyed her reactions. Every single one was a revelation to him.

She lifted him and put his arm around her neck and her arm around his waist. His head rested on her shoulder. Okami felt a little embarrassed that she had ended up helping him instead of the other way around, which had been his original intention… However the way she was almost hugging him made him feel too ecstatic to think about his pride as a man.

Not only did she look like a precious flower, she _smelled_ like one too. The scent of her skin that was touching Okami's cheek was incomparable to anything he had sensed before. His heart started beating faster… As she was carrying him toward the kitchen door the cloth from her dress moved to the slight breeze and exposed a small part of her chest.

Okami's eyes detected that at once and he felt the heat from his chest climbing all the way to his face and setting it practically on fire… What was _that_ feeling? It rendered the pain on his neck almost faint…

"Great.. Now you have fever too" the girl said in a grumpy tone of voice.

/_Yeah, let's go with that…_/ he thought.

"The couch won't do" she said pensively… "We have to get you on a bed…"

The 'fever' on Okami's face now moved to his stomach too. His whole body was burning up..

"It's…. it's ok" he mumbled. "I'm ok…"

"No you're not!" she interrupted him with her bossy attitude once again.

"You almost _died_ yesterday. So follow me and sush! I'm taking you to my bed…"

Ok, now she would definitely feel his heart pound like crazy… Damn, he was pretty sure people from the next kingdom would be able to hear this doki-doki sound coming from his chest… /_What is happening to me?_/ he thought and almost tripped.

She held him a little tighter, to prevent him from falling. "Hang in there" she said softly now. "We're almost there".

At the end of the hallway that started in the kitchen, there were two small wooden doors. She opened one of them.

"Here we are" she said, as they entered a small, very clean, very simple room. In it, there was a bed, a desk with a chair and a rather large bookcase fool of books. She helped him to the bed and sat him down.

Okami was almost senseless, not only by his pain, but by the intoxicating feeling of being so close to her.

She uncovered the sheets and helped him put his feet on the bed. /_Wow, I'm really useless_/ Okami felt completely embarrassed. He was now on her bed in a sitting position.

She observed him. "Try to stay awake" she ordered again. "I need to refresh your patch. You messed it up"

Okami felt like she was constantly scolding him. His emotions were mixed. He was embarrassed and amused at the same time. Whatever it was, it sure was warm… Normally, he would feel angry and would talk back to anyone bossing him around like that, but towards that girl, he felt completely _submissive_…

He looked around the room, trying to stay away as she had asked him to. The truth was, he was feeling pretty dizzy. He noticed that the room was extremely tidy. Most of the books on the shelves were about history, art and science.

"Wow..Are all these hers?" he muttered. He was really impressed by the fact that she had so many books… In the corner of the desk she noticed a pair of shoes…

_Dancing shoes_… He had seen dancers before at the palace when he was little… They had seemed magical to him… Was she a dancer? /_That would explain her heavenly grace_…/ he thought again, only to be interrupted by her entrance in the room.

She was holding a small tin pot and a couple of pieces of cloth. Okami noticed that she had fixed her ponytail and looked a lot less sloppy now. He blushed a little.

She seemed to notice. "That fever must be kicking in again…" Okami said awkwardly… She looked at him even more puzzled. Then her expression changed to grumpy again.

/_Well done, duffus…_/ he thought to himself.

"Well, I'll give you something for it later, because right now you can only take amaranth in your system" she said. Her attitude was very strange to him. She acted as if he was a little kid… And for some reason, he actually _enjoyed_ it…

She put the pot on the nightstand next to the bed and she took the pillow from behind his back… She hesitated for a moment…

"Uhm… You think you can move your back a little forward?" she said.

"Su..Sure" Okami answered and tried to move as silently as he could, as he didn't want her to notice the excruciating pain he was in. He bit his lower lip and moved a few inches forward.

"That's ok.." she said gently. She then sat on the bed behind him, on her knees so that she faced his back. Okami felt his heart go crazy and his breath irregular and heavy…

She slowly removed the patch on his neck. He could tell that her hands were kinda trembling, but then again, maybe it was his imagination.

Afterwards, she took a piece of cloth and very gently, rubbed it on the rash. He felt like his heart was going to pop out of his chest… What was this weird feeling that was caused by his contact with her?

After she cleaned the wound, she took another piece of cloth and dipped it in the warm liquid that was in the pot. She put her head a little closer to him, and he could feel her breath on his skin.

Okami's reflects went bananas. As opposed to the heat he felt before, his palms were now frozen and sweaty at the same time, his skin was shuddering as if he had been touched by a cold breeze, and he felt a weird tingling in his stomach… He felt like he was gonna blow up.. He could not explain that feeling, but he was on the edge… It was really intense and he was trying to withstand it…

"_Thera_… is it?"he said suddenly. The girl was surprised. She dropped the piece of cloth she was holding, on the sheets. "Uhmmm… yes" she said awkwardly. She reached for the patch.

"Now don't move."

"What is this?" he asked her.

"Well, this is me saving your life" she said proudly. "Yesterday, when you were _stalking_ me… you came in contact with a large amount of a plant called 'death lillium", which is highly poisonous and usually lethal…" she stopped for a moment.

"Luckily for you" she continued "your brother brought you here, where we have plenty of amaranth, which is the only remedy for the lillium's poison".

"Thank you Thera…" he said softly. "But how do you know all that? It's impressive"

Her hands shook again. She closed the patch with some tape. As she did that she touched his shoulders. He shuddered again.

"Well, my father was a doctor and an excellent herbalist and he taught me" she said abruptly and got up from behind him in one move.

He was amazed once again with how swift she was.

"Now get some rest. " she said while walking to the door. Before she left the room she turned to him..

"Oh, and in case you were wondering, your little brother is fine and resting in the next room" after that she immediately closed the door behind her.

Okami realized that he had been so hypnotized by her that he hadn't even thought of Orion… "I am such a jerk…" he mumbled. He put his head on the pillow. The only thing that he could think of was her skin and her eyes…

"Well good luck sleeping Okami…" he talked to himself again. If he managed to sleep, he knew what he was going to dream about. And he did, as his body was completely exhausted by the poison…

…..

Thera shut the door behind her and leaned on it right outside the room where the strange boy was resting… _Her_ room.. She had put a complete stranger to sleep on her bed… Her cheeks turned rose… /_He remembered my name_../she thought. /_He was almost unconscious when my mom called me… But he remembered../_. She shook her head, as if trying to snap out of it.

"And why do I care?" she said as she started walking away… "That _pervert_…" but the blush just would not leave her face….

**A/N: Wow, Atem almost forgot about poor Yugi. All he could think about was Tea.. Oooh and how bossy she is.. And he likes it.. That was not planned btw, it just happened as I wrote, but I think it was a cute twist :P. Plus, all the shaking and tingling… It sounds like love to me :P:P. Anyway more on the next chapter. Until then, cheerio and thank you for reading ^_^**


	5. The Craftsman

A/N: It took me a while to update since I had a lot of work at the university but here I am. Thank you for your feedback **MaskingYourIdentity**, as I told you in my pm there will be more YuGiOh related features later on, these chapters are merely setting the background. his is going to be a pretty long story. I don't intend on changing the names, however, I won't leave you unsatisfied. I was going to do that anyway, but your comment inspired me to use the actual names of some of the characters as aliases. You'll see what I mean if you read the chapter :P. Well, on to it. This is just elaborating a little more on the main characters and includes the introduction of another one *wink*. Enjoy! ^_^

**Index (XD)**

Okami = Atem

Orion = Yugi

Thera = Tea

Drako = Seto

Athena = Tea's mother

Chapter 5. The craftsman

Okami got out of bed and found a pair of grey slippers waiting for him. He stretched his body and felt an intense pain on his neck. "Damn! I forgot about that…" he whined. However the pain seemed to be a lot more bearable than before. He looked outside, the sun was almost at the middle of the clear blue sky. It was already past noon.

He looked around him. His heart started beating like crazy when he realized where he was. He was in _her_ room. Surrounded by _her_ stuff. He half-smiled. Now that he was feeling a little better, he could sneak around her things a bit…

He got up and moved toward her study. It was a small wooden desk, extremely crafty for what seemed to be a pretty poor household. He took a look around. It was the same with all the furniture in the room.. Everything was excellently made… On the left corner of the desk he noticed a very elegantly carved letter… "_D_". "Probably the craftsman's… no the artist's signature.

Then his eyes fell on her bookcase. Most of the books were pretty old, but there were so many of them… He took one and read the title… "Homer's Odyssey". /_Interesting_…/he thought and started flipping the pages.. It was a poem of some sort… He couldn't make out much, as his reading skills were pretty shabby, but it spoke of a king, trying to find his way back home… He frowned his face… "How about that…?" he mumbled and abruptly closed the book and put it back in its place.

His eyes fell on a piece of clothing that hung on the desk chair… It was probably Thera's… Without thinking twice, he lifted it and brought it to his nose… He took a deep breath on it… It smelled exactly like her skin, which he had come in contact with a few hours ago… It was intoxicating… He closed his eyes and smelled it once more… Then he suddenly realized.. What he was doing… It was really _disturbing_… He snapped and put the shirt back in its place…

"What the hell am I doing?... I really _am_ a pervert aren't I…?". His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Uhmmm…. Yes?"

"Okami… Are you in there?" it was Orion's voice! He had totally forgotten about his little brother… Again! /_I am such an idiot_../ he thought. He opened the door. His kid brother stood there looking at him with his beautiful puppy eyes. He jumped and hugged his waist.

"Okami! You're ok! O my god I was so scared… I thought I was going to lose you!" he said with his eyes getting watery.

Okami stroke his baby brother's spikey hair, which was shockingly similar to his and hugged him back… "Easy there brother.. Don't worry. I'm fine. I'm not the one to be defeated by some poisonous plant" he said in a smug tone of voice.

Orion left his hug and looked at him smiling. "I know you're strong… But yesterday… You looked so…Sick…" he said and then he looked around..

"Anyway what is this place?"

"It's _Thera's_ room.." he said, his heart beating a little faster.

"Who's Thera? Is she the girl with the yellow flowers?" Orion asked puzzled.

"Yes, that's her. She saved my life with those flowers you know…I was poisoned by that purple flower. It's called 'death lillium' and the only cure is those yellow flowers, amaranth" he said proudly.

Orion's eyes opened wide. "Wow brother! How do you know all that?"

"She told me… Her father was a doctor so she knows" now his voice had a tone of admiration.

"She's really pretty" Orion said playfully and blushed a little. "So you met her?"

"Uhmm.. Yeah. You didn't?" Okami asked puzzled. He remembered Orion still had his senses when he had passed out the previous night.

"Actually, no. When you lost your consciousness, they went crazy over preparing something and paid little to no attention to me so I guess I fell asleep…I woke up in the next room and when I came out to look for someone, I heard your voice so I knocked" Orion said plainly.

Okami smiled. /_Hopefully he didn't hear what I said../_.

"Well, this house belongs to Thera, the aforementioned girl and the other woman I faintly remember, I would guess is her mother…"

"Okami, we should go introduce ourselves…" Orion said enthusiastically.

"Yes, I suppose we should.." Okami said pensively. Then he thought about it a little bit more… It would probably be a shock for those women to find out that they are the princes… Plus, although Okami hated to admit it, he was a little embarrassed about his family.. After the events that had occurred the other day, he felt really ashamed to be the prince of such a country…

"Uhmm.. Orion…" he said with some hesitation… "I don't think we should tell them who we really are…" he finally said it.

"What? Why? But…" Orion protested "These women opened their home to us, two strangers and took care of you… They gave us their beds and now… You say we should lie to them?"

"Calm down brother… I mean, think about it… I…" he lowered his look "I wish I wasn't the prince of Jarra, Orion"

The kid was shocked.."Okami… How can you say that?"

"Come on Orion… The kingdom is crumbling… And we did nothing for it.. And it's too late… Did you see the state this place is in? It's clean and decent… The palace was never like that… _We_ were never like that… I guess I would prefer to be a common person…" he paused. Yes he did… It was not a lie… Maybe as a commoner he would be free to do the things he wanted, and not what was expected of royalty… Maybe if he was a commoner he could have a library like Thera's.. Maybe then he would be able to read that book…

"Think about it Orion… Maybe they'll feel uncomfortable if they find out we're royalty.." he said trying to convince his little brother… The truth was, there was one more reason he wanted to do this… Thera. For some reason, he wanted to be at the same level as her… He didn't want to distinguish himself from her… But he didn't want to tell Orion that. He was too proud to admit that he was attracted to that girl..

"I don't know… Okami… You know how bad I am at lying.. I get all blushy and clumsy.." Orion said with a sad expression.

"Come on. Do me this favor little bro.." he said taking a fake-pleading expression. He was such a manipulator. "It won't be that hard… Remember when we used to play in the garden, when we were little? When we still had flowers and trees at the palace?"

Orion nodded nostalgically… "Yes, when we pretended we were two brave knights that would save the world from an evil warlord… Yes I remember… Grandpa used to read us that story from that picture book…"

"Exactly… We could use those names… That way we will not get mixed up… They used to be like a second personality to us…" Okami said with a sorrowful voice.

"Yes, you were Yami and I was Yugi… I remember we used to call ourselves like that at the dinner table and mother would scold us…" Orion said now his eyes a little watery. Okami noticed that and gave him a huge smile.

"Well, Yami and Yugi are back! How about that?" he said trying to sound as excited as he could.

"Well, ok I guess…" Orion said reluctantly. Suddenly they heard a knock on the door.

"Are you boys both in there?" a female voice asked.

"Yes. Please come in" Okami answered as if it was his own house. The door opened and the woman that had let them in the house the previous night appeared. She looked a lot like Thera. An older version of her. She was a beautiful woman, no more than 40 years old, brunette with blue eyes. She wore a beige apron and a matching headband.

"Hello" she said with a smile on her face. "I see you're doing better".

Okami took a deep bow. "We are. I can't begin to thank you for your care and hospitality" he said in a very polite tone of voice. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Yami and this is my brother Yugi.. We're… _Wanderers_…" he said so convincingly that Orion looked at him with surprise and admiration at the same time. Then he bowed as well.

"Ni.. Nice to meet you" he said with kind of a trembling voice. "I'm Yugi… As he said" he didn't sound as convincing as Okami. His brother gave him a glare and then sighed.

The woman looked at them with a very puzzled face for a few seconds. Then she drew a huge grin on her face and said "Those are really strange names!"

The boys almost spontaneously scratched the back of their heads awkwardly and smiled.

"Yes, I guess they are…" Okami finally said.

"Well, I'm Athena. Nice to meet you" she bowed too. "And I believe you've met my daughter Thera" she said pointing to the patch on Okami's neck.

"Yes" he answered. "But we haven't been properly introduced".

"I haven't met her!" Orion shouted in enthusiasm. Okami gave him another glare. He cleared his throat.

"So.. Uhmm… Where might she be?" he managed to say.

"She's at the Paedagogeum, doing some repairs" Athena answered.

"_Paedagogeum_?!" both the boys uttered completely surprised. Athena grinned again.

"Yes. She is a teacher. And the almost collapsed building next to this house is an old Paedagogeum where she teaches…" she said with a hint of sorrow in her voice.

"A teacher?!" they both exclaimed at the same time again. That was really a surprise. She couldn't have been more than 18 years old and she was… a _teacher_! Okami felt a strange tingling in his stomach… How much more incredibly interesting and attractive could that girl be… He felt such an admiration for her, it was mesmerizing.

"Well that explains the books" he said plainly, trying not to let his enthusiasm show.

"She has more at the Paedagogeum if you like reading" the woman said, amused by the boys' reaction.

"Uhmm…We don't really…" Orion started saying but Okami pinched his arm from behind.

"Thank you Athena. I think we should go introduce ourselves" Okami said in his polite tone again. He was trying to hide he was royalty, but his manners were something he could do nothing about. He grabbed Orion's arm and dragged him off the room.

"Come on O… Yugi. Let's go"

…

Thera was standing on the huge ladder in the classroom, trying to stretch herself enough to reach the light bulb hanging from the ceiling. "Aww mann… I wish I was a little taller…". She was trying to fix that bulb that was hanging on a thread, but it was kind of hopeless, since she couldn't even reach the bulb, let alone the wire…

Suddenly she heard a familiar voice she hadn't heard for quite some time…

"What exactly do you think you're doing _shorty_?" a deep male voice said bitterly. She turned around to see her childhood friend, whom she hadn't seen in such a long time.

"_Drako_!" she said and her enthusiasm and surprise made her lose her balance and start falling off the ladder. The man swooshed under her and caught her in very strange position. She fell on his right shoulder, and landed in a position as if he was carrying a sack, or… as if he was trying to abduct her.

Right at that moment, Okami and Orion entered the room and saw the tall, brown-haired and blue-eyed man with the cynical look carrying Thera on his shoulder. Okami felt his blood boiling at the image. He immediately ran to their direction and yelled without thinking twice.

"PUT HER DOWN!" as he reached them, he completely lost his balance as the very sharp pain on the back of his neck came back and he fell on the ground moaning in pain.

"Ughhhh!". He landed face down unable to get up.

"Ok… Yami!" Orion screamed and ran to his position. Drako and Thera were looking at him puzzled as he was running towards them.

"What the hell?" Drako said frowning his face. Thera pressed his shoulder a little and her expression was now terrified.

"Put me down Drako.. He's hurt". He did as she asked with his expression pouting still.

"Who the hell is that?" he asked sounding annoyed.

"That's… a guest" she said running to Okami's aid. She kneeled down next to him and turned him around. He felt her warm touch and the butterflies returned to his stomach. He was still a little dazed from the pain, but the thing that really hurt, was _his pride_…

"You really are reckless aren't you?!" she said in a half-concerned, half-scolding voice.

"I'm… I'm sorry…" he uttered. "I thought… You were in danger…"

"Well I wasn't" she said in a softer tone of voice and blushed a little. He couldn't notice of course as he was seriously dizzy, but Orion did. Thera turned to the tall man.

"Drako… Can you please help me carry him inside the house?". The man frowned and then shrugged. Without answering he pushed her aside and lifted Okami by the shoulder, put his arm around his neck and lifted him. Okami's feet were on the air, as Drako was really tall.

/_DAMMIT! This is so freaking embarrassing… Again.. I am carried like a child.. And this time by this… ape_/he was too dizzy to protest but still his pride had suffered a really fatal wound… For a moment he lost consciousness and he woke up when they were in the kitchen again, after he felt a cold liquid sprinkled on his face. He opened his eyes to see Thera's angry face.

"Why are you out of bed? And why are you running around? Didn't I tell you to rest?" she scolded. He couldn't help but smile.

"I'm sorry" he said with puppy eyes. Orion dropped his jaw… Who was this submissive stranger? Cause it sure as hell wasn't his brother… Anyone who would talk to Okami like that would at least get an insult, if not a smack on the face. Only his father the king had the right to scold him, and lately not even him. That was how proud his brother was.

But in front of this girl… He was like an obedient pet… How was this possible? Orion smiled at the thought of an answer to that question.

"I thought… He was… Hurting you" he said looking down. /_Even if he was I would have been useless…_ /he thought immediately. He felt so genuinely frustrated and angry… He wanted to bang his head on the wall.. Not that it could have made things worse. His head felt like it weighed a ton already.

"This is Drako. He's a friend of mine. And he was just helping me down the ladder" she blushed a little again, but turned away to hide it. She took a towel and gave it to him to wipe the water off his face. He did and then he turned and looked at Drako. He really didn't like that guy for some reason… Be it the way he looked down on him, be it the fact that he had seen her holding Thera like that… Just the thought of it made him furious…

"Sorry I attacked you.." he said plainly.

"Yeah, you were really fierce…" the tall man smirked ironically.

Okami felt his blood boiling. He REALLY didn't like that guy. But all he could do was glare. /_Wait until I get better, and then we'll see who's fierce.._/ he thought.

"Come on now Drako don't be mean. He was poisoned by death lillium.." Thera said trying to prevent an awkward situation. Then she turned to Okami with that scolding look "Come on, you need to rest."

"No" he said in a decisive tone "I'm fine" and he clenched his fists and forced himself to stand on his feet.

"No you're not" she said pointing to his patch. "You messed it up again… I'll have to fix it… God you're a handful…" she sighed.

"You can say that again…" Orion smirked whispering.

"Damn…" he mumbled. /_I'm a freaking joke_…/. But then he remembered her soft hands and her warm breath on his skin and decided maybe the patch replacement was not such a bad idea..

"Ok… But, I think I've slept enough. I'd like some fresh air… If that's ok with you.." he said gently.

Thera obviously blushed this time, but kept her half-angry look. "Ok… Just try not to move around much ok?"

"Done!" he said bowing his head a little.. /_Ouch_!/

Thera put some water on the stove and left the room to bring a clean piece of cloth. As she was leaving, she gave Okami a 'behave yourself' kind of look and strangely enough, she gave the same look to Drako.

"Where are my manners?" he extended his hand to Drako, but at the same time giving him an icy look.

"I'm Yami and this is my brother Yugi… We're wanderers."

Drako looked at them for a few seconds with an estranged expression and then shrugged.

"Yeah sure… Why not?" he extended his hand sluggishly. "Drako. I'm the…janitor" he said and started walking away…

"Tell Thera I'm going to fix her bulb" he said as he was getting out of the door.

"Sure…". Right at that moment Thera came back.

"Where's Drako?" she asked concerned. For some reason that concern had annoyed Okami. His face had a really pouting expression.

"He went to fix the bulb!" Orion popped. Thera turned to him and smiled. "Oh nice… I'm Thera by the way"

"Yugi…" he said and bowed. Thera chuckled a little. "Nice to meet you".

Then she turned to Okami. "Yami… was it?" she said. He looked at her confused.

"Your brother called you… Yami".

He lowered his head. "Oh! Yes…" he said awkwardly.

"Uhmmm… Maybe I should go see if your friend needs any help" Orion said clearing his throat.

Thera turned to him and gave him a warm smile. "I doubt he'll let you help, but that's very sweet of you".

"That's ok… I'll just watch… I like watching people fix stuff…" he said awkwardly… It was pretty obvious that he wanted to leave them alone.

"Ok then" she said plainly. "Just don't let him scare you. He barks but he doesn't bite.." she said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Orion left the room and Thera turned her attention to Okami. She started doing the same ritual as that morning. He closed his eyes to indulge on the feeling of her hands touching him, but something annoyed him… It was an itch.. He had to ask or he'd blow up… But he didn't want to give away his frustration..

"So, that's your janitor huh?" he said acting indifferent.

"Hahahaha…" she giggled. "Is that what he told you?"

He was confused. "What's so funny" he asked annoyed.

"He's not a janitor… He's an engineer and a craftsman… The greatest in the kingdom… Everything you see in this house… He's made it… With his own hands…" she said and now there was nostalgia and sorrow in her voice.

Then it hit him.. _"D"_…The signature in all those magnificent pieces of furniture in that house… They were all that obnoxious ape's! Okami felt a pinch in his stomach… Why did that guy annoy him so very much? And why… Even when he found out that he was the artist behind that craft he had admired so very much… Why did he like him _even less_ now?...

…..

A/N: Someone's jealous… XD. Anyway, that was a pretty long chapter and the first appearance of Seto Kaiba. I hope you liked it. **Thank you for reading and please review**. Until next time, cheerio ^_^


	6. Broken Ladder

A/N: I know it took forever.. But I really don't have much time for writing now that my exams have started :(. However I finally managed to update this story. Phewwww… It's a big story and I'm going slow about it so I should be updating more often but right now I just can't… Well I'm happy that I managed to finish this chapter now, so here you go. I hope you like it. Either way, **please review**, any comments are welcome.

P.S. Some art from this story, i.e. drawings of the main characters are already on deviantart. ^_^

**Index (XD)**

Okami = Atem

Orion = Yugi

Thera = Tea

Drako = Seto

Chapter 6. Broken Ladder

Thera had almost finished patching up Okami's wound. She didn't want to admit it even to herself, but the fact that it took her a little longer for no obvious reason was kind of deliberate. She actually enjoyed taking care of that spike-haired boy. She liked scolding him. Maybe he _was_ a pervert… But for some reason she felt a strange attraction towards him. /_This is nothing. He's just a stupid pervert_…/she thought as she wrapped his wound one final time.

"Ok, we're done here" she said plainly still sitting behind him. Okami left a disappointed sigh. He _really_ didn't want the treatment to end. Mostly because of the contact with her. His attraction to her grew stronger with every minute, no every second. Thera was alarmed by his sigh.

"Is everything ok? Did I hurt you?" she asked full of concern. He turned his body around in order to face her and smiled at her.

"On the contrary…" he said with his deep voice, looking straight into her eyes. Her wonderful sparkling sapphires. The girl blushed and shivered. His look was.. _mesmerizing_. They just stayed there looking at each other for some moments without moving an inch.

However, a loud banging noise woke them from their trance. They both jolted from their positions at once.

"What was that?" he wondered.

"I don't know.." she answered, "but it came from the Paedagogeum" she said almost terrified. "I'll go check it, you stay here" she announced, heading for the door. Okami looked at her with a very confused face. Surely this woman wasn't asking him to sit and wait until _she_ made sure there was no danger... Was she? He grabbed her arm as she was leaving and stopped her to her tracks.

"You're not serious of course" he said firmly. "My brother is over there". He pushed her behind him and walked to the door. Thera was puzzled and pissed at the same time but she also felt a strange tingling in her stomach as she saw him so determined. She followed after him.

They reached the Paedagogeum and everything seemed to be ok on the outside. They entered the door and they saw where the noise had come from. The ladder Thera was standing on earlier had collapsed, and Drako was lying on the floor grabbing his shoulder and there was some blood on his shirt.

"_DRAKO_!" Thera screamed terrified and run to him. Okami bit his lip. The man was obviously hurt and all he cared about was that Thera had screamed his name… He shook his head and moved closer. Thera kneeled next to him.

"Are you ok Drako? Oh my god you're bleeding. Where is the wound? I knew that ladder was in bad shape" she said almost breathlessly as she was kind of panicking. That side of her also seemed cute and amusing to Okami.

"Breathe woman!" Drako hissed annoyed. "You knew the ladder was crappy and still you used it. _Idiot_!" he yelled at her. Okami narrowed his eyebrows in anger. How did he dare to speak to her like that?... But what came next gave him the answer.

"This could have been _you_!" he said sounding equally angry. However Okami realized, that the reason he was scolding her, was not that he was an ass… Although that was pretty clear in Okami's mind.. Not for any particular reason though… The real reason he was acting like that was.. that he _cared about her_… He feared that she could have fallen and gotten hurt instead of him. That thought gave Okami a major pain in the stomach.

However another idea crossed his mind… That behavior… It was the same she had towards himself. She kept yelling at him and scolding him all day long for getting himself hurt… Could it be that she did so because… She was worried about _him_?! That was a possibility he very much favored. The grumpy voice of Drako snapped him out.

"I can lift myself idiot. My legs are fine. And my shoulder will be, shortly. I don't need your help" he said practically shooing Thera who was trying to support him, and lifted himself.

"Ughh!" he cried as he couldn't contain the pain no matter how much he wanted. He kept holding his shoulder. It was obvious he was hurt.

"Please Drako let me help you" Thera said desperate. "This is my fault"

"Relax. I'm fine. I just need to sit" he said plainly.

"It's most obvious you're not.." Okami noted pointing at his shirt which was red from blood.

"This is just a scratch…._Yami_" it was pretty obvious that Drako didn't like Okami more than he did.

He started walking, Thera trying to support him. Orion walked up to Okami.

"Wow that guy's rude" he noted..

"Yes…" Okami agreed but in truth he was just focused on the two of them, walking together…

They reached the yard and Drako sat on one of the chairs and supported himself to the table. Thera turned to Okami.

"You should sit too. You shouldn't wonder around much with that wound" she told him strictly and headed to the kitchen. Okami obediently sat, surprising his brother one more time… Then he saw Thera _smiling_ as she walked in the kitchen, certain that Okami wouldn't notice.

/_Hmmm…Interesting_/ Orion thought and smiled himself.

Okami and Drako were sitting in the garden table, opposite each other. They both had frowned faces. Really frowned and pouting expressions. It was pretty obvious they did not enjoy each other's company… However, Okami's manners did not allow him to be rude. He cleared his throat.

"Uhm… So… You are.. A craftsman huh?... I saw some of your work in the house… You are indeed very talented" he said trying to start a conversation…

"I _was_. Not anymore!" he said abruptly. It was clear that the conversation about his craft annoyed him. Okami's face pouted even more… /_Geez, that guy is rude_/. But before he had the time to get pissed at Drako's behavior, Thera came out of the kitchen. She was holding a tin pot and some rags, like the ones she had used to clean Okami's wound. She stood right in front of Drako and hesitated a little.

"I… I'm going to take off your vest…. To check on your wound… ok?" she said kind of awkwardly. Drako looked at her with an annoyed look.

"_I_'ll do it" he said and unbuttoned his vest with his healthy hand. However taking it off his wounded shoulder, was another story…

"UGHHH!" he hissed in pain as he tried to move his arm.

"Well you can't! Now let me help you!" she said, and without waiting for an answer, she started pulling his vest off his right shoulder, which was the wounded one.

"Ouch! OUCH!" he protested. "You're clumsy shorty" he complained. Okami was looking at them… His eyes had a fiery look of… _anger_… A drop of sweat had started forming on his forehead… What on earth was that intimacy…? How dare he talk to her like that… AND WHY… WHY in the name of all the gods was she _undressing_ him?! Okami was about to blow up…

Thera had taken Drako's vest off and now she was unbuttoning his shirt… Okami couldn't stand the image… He clenched his fists…

"Do you need help there, Thera?" he asked, trying to conceal the discomfort in his voice. Thera turned her huge blue eyes on him confused.

"No I got this.. Thank you" she answered as she lowered Drako's shirt to expose his chest and his shoulders. Okami started moving his leg up and down nervously.

/_Perhaps I should go inside… Spare myself this.. this…Ughh! No.. I am not leaving her alone with him… Half-naked_…/.

"Oh my… You're bleeding indeed…" she said full of worry for Drako. "Let me clean this". She took a piece of cloth and dipped it in the liquid that was in the pot and started cleaning the wound..

"Ouch!"

It was nothing unusual… Yet it made Okami feel homicidal… She had done the same thing for him… Twice… /_So she does this for everyone… It was nothing special to her… Of course.. If her father was a doctor… I bet she tends to a lot of people… I bet she's tended to this ape many times in the past…. If they're friends_…/… Those thoughts were unexpectedly disturbing to him, much as this man's behavior. However he did not want to lose his cool… Especially in front of _her_.

"There you go. Done and ready!" Thera exclaimed, after she had finished tending Drako's wound.

"That was not necessary" he pouted again.

/_God can't he say thank you?_…/ Okami's loathing of him continued.

"Well, whether it was or not, I did it" she said and stuck her tongue out to him.

"Tss." He hissed again and looked away. However, Thera seemed really amused by his behavior. Those two did seemed to have an intimate relationship. Okami lowered his head. /_Of course… Who would be around such a person and not like her_…/he thought. Then suddenly she turned her eyes on him again.

"How are you feeling Yami?" she asked plainly. "Still dizzy?". His eyes shone.

"No. I'm feeling _fine_ actually. Thank you" he almost sounded angry. Thera opened her huge eyes wide, puzzled.. /_What's gotten into him?_/..

"O…Ok..I'll go get some tea.." she said and went for the kitchen again, leaving them alone…Again.

Okami's eyebrows were still narrowed without him knowing. He turned and looked at the man he now thought of as his rival. He was not bad… Not bad at all.. _Unfortunately_. Actually he had similar characteristics with her. He had chocolate brown hair and blue eyes. Not as big and cute as hers though. His, had a dark annoyed expression reflecting on them constantly. He was also very tall. _Too tall_… That was what made Okami most uncomfortable than all his characteristics… /_I probably look like a dwarf in front of him…_/. He remembered when he was carrying him and his face got almost distorted with frustration. Orion was really amused by the situation. He had totally seen through his brother's expressions… Okami was…_jealous_…

Suddenly, Okami's gaze fell on a little pendant that hang from Drako's neck. It looked like a claw of some kind, and on it, an _eye_ was carved. It was the same symbol that was carved on Okami's little pyramid pendant.

"Hmmmm…" he said almost unintentionally. "That's a very interesting item you have there on your neck.. I happen to have one very similar to it." He said pulling a little string that hang from the inside of his shirt and revealing the little pendant Orion had given him. Drako turned his eyes to it. He looked frustrated and… _surprised_…

"How can _you_ possibly have that?" he asked and then looked Okami in the eyes. "Did you steal it?"

Okami was this close to get up and punch him. However he did not allow himself to lose his temper.

"Take that back. Now. Please." he said in a tone of voice that was anything _but_ pleading… It was almost threatening.

"Don't get so upset spikey… You said you're wanderers… How do you survive if not by stealing?" Drako said plainly.

"Well we do. How dare you even think something like this?…" he said starting to get really upset now.

"Relax… _Yami_… It's not anything rare in this country… If you're not a thief, a murderer or a conman, you're either dead or ruined.. Like… this…" he said pointing to the Paedagogeum. His voice had a strange tone… He probably meant to sound sarcastic or taunting but he didn't. In fact he sounded disappointed. Okami felt a pinch in his heart… It couldn't be that bad… Could it?... Could his kingdom…The kingdom he was about to abandon, have fallen to such disgrace?… That thieves and murderers were lurking it… Drako turned and looked at him again.

"That thing on your neck…" he said.. "You other stole it…or took it from someone who did.. There's no other way _you_ would have it..". Then Orion finally interfered.

"I was the one who found it. I found it in an abandoned building and gave it to him… We never stole anything.. And we never would" he said sounding more desperate than offended.

"Stop it Yugi." Okami exclaimed. His tone was much more strict. "We don't owe this man any explanations". He did say that but in fact he knew… Not for this… But for so many other things, they actually did owe him, and many others, _many explanations_.

"Where did you find yours?" he finally asked. Drako's eyes darkened even more.

"It belonged to my father." He said abruptly and got up.

"And where's your father now?" Okami foolishly asked.

"He's _dead_. Like every other honest and loyal man in this kingdom" he spat before he turned his back and started walking away. Okami was confused. But at the same time he felt shame.. Shame for himself and for his family. That obnoxious man that had just walked away had spoken a truth that the palace refused to hear…That was really difficult and tough on Okami's ears… But it _was_ the truth…

Thera came out of the kitchen holding a tray with four cups and a teapot.

"Tea is ready" she announced happily before she realized that Drako was walking away.

"Drako…" she extended her hand to his direction in order to stop him. He stopped in his tracks without turning to look at her.

"Thanks for the treatment. It wasn't necessary. If you need me you know where to find me. And shorty… _stop_ putting ideas in my little brother's head. This world is never gonna change and _you_ should know it better than me." He said and continued walking.

"Drako… Where are you going?" Thera asked sounding disappointed.

"That's none of your business" he said and finally vanished behind the trees.

"I _know_ where you're going…" she mumbled to herself. "You're going… to the tavern… to drink… again…" she said with such a sad look in her eyes that Okami wanted to swoosh over her and hug her.. But he hesitated. What had just happened.. It shook him.

"Thera…" he said in a very serious tone of voice. "What happened to his father?" Thera looked down and now her eyes were dark as well. Really dark…

"He was hung for treason…." She hesitated a little but then finished her explanation ".._by the palace_…"

…..

**A/N: Ok I like this chapter. I don't know if you do but I do. It features a lot, of my beloved Seto Kaiba. I think I got him ok in character, but do tell me if I lost it somewhere. Generally I want to keep all the characters in this story as much in character with their Yugioh counterparts as possible, so I would appreciate the feedback on that. Anyway, the pendant and the dead dad are major plot points and I will reveal more on that later :P. Thank you for reading and I would very much appreciate it if you took the time to review. Till next time, cheerio! ^_^**


End file.
